2 Samuel 23:30

23:30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai from the wadis of Gaash,

2 Samuel 8:18

8:18 Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised ¹  the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. ² 

2 Samuel 20:23

20:23 Now Joab was the general in command of all the army of Israel. Benaiah the son of Jehoida was over the Kerethites and the Perethites.

2 Samuel 23:22

23:22 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoida, who gained fame among the three elite warriors.

2 Samuel 23:20

23:20 Benaiah son of Jehoida was a brave warrior ³  from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. ⁴  He also went down and killed a lion in a cistern on a snowy day.

[8:18]  ¹ tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate in reading “over,” rather than the simple conjunction that appears in MT. See also the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17.

[8:18]  ² sn That David’s sons could have been priests, in light of the fact that they were not of the priestly lineage, is strange. One must assume either (1) that the word “priest” (כֹּהֵן, kohen) during this period of time could be used in a broader sense of “chief ruler” (KJV); “chief minister” (ASV, NASB), or “royal adviser” (NIV), perhaps based on the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17 which has “the king’s leading officials”, or (2) that in David’s day members of the king’s family could function as a special category of “priests” (cf. NLT “priestly leaders”). The latter option seems to be the more straightforward way of understanding the word in 2 Sam 8:18.

[23:20]  ¹ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading חַיִל (khayil, “valor”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, חַי (khay, “life”).

[23:20]  ² tc Heb “the two of Ariel, Moab.” The precise meaning of אריאל is uncertain; some read “warrior.” The present translation assumes that the word is a proper name and that בני, “sons of,” has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note the preceding שׁני).